The Guardian of Olympus
by QueenBeePress
Summary: Priscilla (Percy) Lightwell is different, she's not a part of the seven's prophecy, and she certainly doesn't seem to fit into the group. Her prophecy will lead her on a more dangerous path, one that will determine whether or not Jay and his friends can win at all. With reminders of a terrible home at every turn, will Percy be able to succeed? Or will Cronus take over the world?
1. The New Girl

Percy's day had been rough already. Early in the morning, around five, Hera dragged her out of bed for training with Apollo, which was usually just Percy playing guitar or singing to plants, and then she had gym class, where the biggest kid in the sophomore class, Herald Martinez, (Herry for short), slammed her in the face with a dodgeball.

Jay walked into the gym at the end of Herry's class to see a girl sitting on the floor, Herry was kneeling next to her muttering something that sounded like an apology.

"Herry! Hey, what'd you do?" He teased as the girl glanced over at Jay, she was holding her t-shirt up to her nose, soaking up a red liquid that could only be blood.

"I kind of hit her in the face with a dodgeball, uh, Percy, this is my friend Jay," the teen said with a small chuckle. Percy just studied Jay.

"Well, uh, hi, Jay... thanks for the bloody nose, Herry, see you around," the green haired girl muttered as she stood up and walked to the locker room.

Herry sighed, "man, I kind of liked her…"

"Well, maybe it's not totally hopeless," Jay offered, "change fast, then offer to walk her to class?"  
The brown haired boy agreed and dashed to the boys locker room to ditch his sweaty gym uniform; his sandy-haired counterpart followed a little slower, considering his own class started in just a few minutes.

When Jay exited the locker room, he saw Herry walking away from the gym with Percy, who was now wearing a black tank top and shorts as well as a significant amount of jewelry.

"Way to go Herry," Jay muttered as Theresa popped out of the locker room in her white shirt and blue athletic shorts; it was the standard gym uniform for all the students at New Olympia High School.

"Hey," the ginger greeted as she approached Jay with a light smile, "what's new?"

"Herry managed to flirt with some success, I think," Jay replied with a shrug, "other than that, nothing, you?"

"Same, so was she pretty?"

"What?" Jay looked confused for a second, "oh, Percy, I guess so, why?"

Theresa pouted a little then lined up for the warm up routine, pulling Jay along with her as the coaches announced that the day's game would be dodgeball.

Two hallways down, Herry finally said goodbye to Percy and headed to his own class as Percy sat in her chair at the back of the Physics lab, still holding a paper towel up to her nose.

"Alright everyone, sit down. Today we're doing a worksheet as a class!" The teacher, a tall but frail and wrinkled old lady, called in the quietest voice ever.

Per usual, the class didn't pay much attention, Percy included as she whipped through the worksheet on her own, finishing all twenty questions in the first few seconds of class.

As spitballs, pencils, and even a calculator were launched across the room, Percy put her pencil to a different use and focused on her drawings.

Today's was a group of monsters from the last nightmare she'd dealt with.

The group of Minotaurs were breaking through a pile of rubble, and somehow, Percy's once talentless scribbles, made the picture strikingly unique and if anyone was being honest, well drawn.

"Stupid nightmare," Percy muttered to herself as she looked up at the clock.

With only three minutes to go until the bell rang, the gray-eyed girl handed in her worksheet to the teacher and caught a pencil before it could hit the woman in the face.

"Oh my, thank you Priscilla," she said with a smile, "sometimes I think you're the only one who takes this class seriously."

Percy just smiled politely at the sound of her full name, "anytime Mrs. G, see you tomorrow."

As the teacher ordered the students back to their seats, Percy walked out the door and headed to her third class of the day, Trigonometry.

Unlike most of the students in her classes, Priscilla Lightwell was ahead of the game. In New York, she'd been ahead of the curve by an entire year, and despite only being sixteen, she had her full driver's license, was a junior in high school, and now, was totally friendless in the foreign city of New Olympia.

At first, she'd been excited when her grandmother talked about an all expenses paid boarding school in Canada, then she actually went there, and well, she discovered more about her father's mysterious heritage than she'd ever wanted to.

"Hey, skipping out?" Called a familiar voice.

Herry studied the girl he'd almost concussed in gym class as she stopped staring at her shoes and looked up at him.

To anyone who didn't know Percy, she looked like your average, rather punk, teenager with lip piercings, ear piercings, ear gauges, and hair dyed a vibrant, minty green.

"Beating the bell," she replied with a small smile.

"Same, what class do you have next?"  
"Trigonometry," Percy replied.

"Really? I thought you were a sophomore."

"Nah, skipped a year back in New York," Percy explained, "so, I mean, I'm still only sixteen, but…"

Herry just smiled and played with the strap of his backpack.

"I take it you're too brainiac to skip class then?"  
Percy laughed, "as if, what'd you have in mind?"

Herry grinned, "ever been on the roof?"

The roof was a dismal gray color and the autumn breeze was less than warm as it skirted across Percy's bare arms, to anyone without an imagination, it wasn't an ideal spot to hang out, but for two sixteen year olds ditching class, it was the perfect hiding place to avoid Zeus.

"So, how was Physics?" Herry asked as he nervously reached out and plucked a spitball from Percy's hair.

"Hell," she replied, "how was Geometry?"  
"Boring as ever, and Odie wouldn't help me with my test."

Percy laughed, "because you're supposed to do those yourself."

Herry just shrugged and put the thought aside and pulled a small speaker and iPod out of his bag, "you like rock and roll?"  
The green haired girl grinned, "do I ever, wait, hm… Metallica?"

Herry nodded, "Sixx A.M.?"  
Percy grinned too, "man, now I just have to hope the kids at my dorm feel the same way."

"Dorm?"

"Yeah, I transferred here a week ago, and my dorm adviser has me in a temporary setup until she can have my room ready. Stuff happened and I had to come a week early, she wasn't ready."

Herry paused as something clicked about Athena mentioning surprises, work, and a new kid, "So… where's your dorm at? I can't imagine the school has many, and well, I'm in the Brownstone, so…"

"Brownstone?" Percy turned to face Herry a bit as he leaned back and hit play on the iPod.

"Yeah, it's only a block away, you can see it from here."

Percy smirked, "well, I guess now I know that the dorms are coed, I'm supposed to move in tomorrow night, you're Herry huh? Athena kind of made you seem a little dumber."

"Wait… you're the new kid she's been talking about?" Herry sat up and hit pause on the AC/DC song, his chocolate gaze now fixed on Percy as she glanced over at him.

"The one and only, I've been staying in the janitor's closet," she waved her hand in the air as if it weren't the weirdest sentence she'd spoken that day.

"Really? How come we haven't seen you during training?"  
"Great question, maybe we could surprise Hera, go to training together."

Herry agreed and they decided to meet outside the closet after classes let out before spending the next hour chilling out on the roof.

As the final bell rang, students poured out of classrooms, except for one boy in a distinct purple and yellow sweater.

Jay was studying the sheet that Hera had given him the day before. He was supposed to have the tactic memorized and he wanted to pour over it one more time.

"Jay the bell rang, and I have a meeting to get to," the surly male teacher pointed out as he stood by the door. Jay apologized quickly and grabbed his things before heading down the hall towards the janitor's closet. Theresa was waiting, and surprisingly, so was Herry and Percy.

"Uh, Herry, we need to get going, so uh, sorry Percy, but…"

"Ugh," Percy muttered, "you are so bad at lying, here I thought the fearless leader was a little more practiced."

Jay looked stunned as Percy removed her very own sundial pendant, though it was silver instead of bronze, and inserted it into the lock, popping the door open with a small whoosh of air.

Herry grinned, "that's right, I met the new girl first."

"New girl?" Theresa didn't like the sound of that and followed close behind the others as the opened the portal to the school, was she being replaced for the incident at the beach? Could she be replaced in the prophecy like that?

As soon as they arrived, Hera was standing in the teens' path, "children, welcome back… What… Percy? I distinctly told you to wait until I introduced you to the others," Hera insisted.

"Sorry," the green haired girl mumbled as she stepped past Hera, "is Apollo here yet?"

"He's in his chambers, yes… but you are not getting away with this rule breaking so easily."  
Hera looked colder than usual, and Jay couldn't believe his mentor had such a frigid personality, maybe it was because she spent so much time doting on the teens, maybe it was because he was close to her, regardless, Jay felt a little less than comfortable seeing this new side to Hera.

"Miss Hera, relax, it's not like the rest of us haven't broken the rules, besides, we were going to meet her eventually, right?" Herry pointed out.

The old goddess just grumbled and glared at Percy before beckoning for Jay to follow her to her chambers so they could train.

Hours passed, and Percy spent most of her time practicing her guitar and sketching as Apollo recited various poems and tales. The god of the arts didn't seem very interested in teaching the descendant of Perseus much of anything.

"Apollo… not to offend you or anything, but… if I'm descended from Perseus, son of Zeus, why isn't he teaching me?"

Apollo laughed, "he's the king of the gods, and a hard working janitor! Don't you think he's just a little too busy for that? Besides, he'd have you working on boring stuff, instead, we get to play music!"  
Percy gave up on asking any further questions and played an E minor chord in place of E major, changing the effect the music had on the plant she was supposedly healing. As soon as the melancholy sound hit the little flower, it drooped over.

"What that wasn't right," Apollo noted, "see, this is why we practice."

Percy sighed and set her instrument down, "whatever. I'm going to go do some laps or something."

There was something bugging Theresa about the new girl. She seemed too shut off, too… powerful to be a part of the team, at least that's what she sensed. Not to mention the prophecy only called for seven, and if she wasn't being replaced (Persephone calmed those fears quite fast), then what was an eighth hero's place in New Olympia?

She soon found out as Ares lined the group up for a training session.

"Today, we test your battle skills with capture the flag, unfortunately it will be… Percy? What's the Guardian of Olympus doing here?" Ares sounded... happy, proud of this girl, and it confused the seven heroes very much as they'd never received anything but harsh, strict training from the god of war.

"Thought I'd do laps or something," called the familiar voice as everyone turned to see who Ares was addressing.

"How about capture the flag, we need an eighth player."

Percy shrugged and tightened her shoe laces as she stood at the end of the line next to Odie, who, to everyone's surprise, was at least an inch taller than she was.

"Alright, Jay, Percy, you two are captains."

Percy moved to stand beside Jay and when Ares gave her first pick, surprised everyone.

"Glasses," she called, pointing at a very confused Odie.

"Me?" The boy had never been picked first, second, or even third, so Odie was very excited when Percy nodded and jabbed her thumb behind her implying that he should line up.

Jay picked Theresa, so Percy picked Herry. Jay then selected Atlanta, so Percy picked Archie and studied her crew, leaving Neil to Jay's team, "cool, so, got any good strategies or did I pick the descendant of Odysseus wrong?"

Odie grinned, "not at all, here's the plan."

The plan was nearly flawless, and the team got ready to play, facing down their opponents with devilish grins.

Unfortunately for Percy, Jay's team had Neil's luck and won anyway.

Ares looked pleased enough, and let the group go five minutes early, much to the seven's surprise and delight. Hera soon entered the room and called Percy over.

The girl obeyed and stood attentively as Hera studied her sweaty figure.

"Seeing as the introductions have already been made and Athena is completed in her task, you are to go to the Brownstone and officially move in tonight. Your things are packed and already in Herry's truck."

Percy laughed and offered Hera an impish grin, "that eager to get rid of me? Alright, thanks Miss Hera."

Hera didn't change her cold gaze as she watched the source of her contempt for Zeus walk towards the showers. Unfortunately, Hera had literally packed everything Percy owned, so she could only try to remove the sweat from her body as Atlanta and Theresa changed into clean clothing.

"Uh, you aren't going to change?" Theresa asked.

"Hera packed for me and apparently took my spare clothes too, I'll change when we get to the Brownstone," came Percy's calm reply.

Atlanta sighed, "good luck getting a shower when we get there, Neil will probably take it first."

"Isn't he showering now?"

The two redheads just laughed and shook their heads.

"Trust me, it'll be a race to get there," Atlanta warned.

Percy shrugged and followed the girls to the closet again before that the boys had left without them.

When the trio of girls arrived at the Brownstone, having walked the three blocks, a tall woman with dark, violet hair and a sword in her hands stopped Percy in her tracks.

"Priscilla?" She greeted warily.

"I go by Percy, but yeah, that's me," the girl replied with a flat kind of indifference, "want a blood sample to prove it?"

Behind Athena, someone snickered and the goddess smiled, then let Percy through before grabbing Neil's collar and holding him back, "get it while you can," the goddess winked at the mint-haired girl.

Percy grinned and when Neil screamed in protest, the girl dashed up the stairs to find the bathroom.

Safely in possession of the shower, Percy locked the door behind her, dropped her bag, and stripped.

The shower didn't take horribly long, and when Percy was clean (and shaved) she dried off and got dressed in a pair of gray shorts and a purple tank top.

As soon as she exited the bathroom, her bleach blonde housemate dashed into the room, squealing about sweat and complexions.

Percy just chuckled and noticed a half open door across the hall from her spot outside the bathroom. As she peeked inside, she saw Archie sitting on his bed with his gold brace sitting on the desk as he read a book.

Making a mental note of his habits, Percy continued towards the end of the hall and knocked on the very last door.

Failing to gain a response, she turned the knob and pushed the door open to see a plain looking bedroom much bigger than the one she'd lived in back in New York. There was a twin size bed with a gray comforter to match the walls, a dresser, desk, full length mirror on the wall, and a closet, all of which were very empty except for some bare hangers.

"Home sweet hell," the girl murmured before setting her bag down on her bed. As soon as she did, Athena appeared in the doorway behind her.

"I see you found your room alright," the goddess noted kindly, "are you bringing the rest of your stuff tomorrow?"

Percy frowned, "there is no 'rest' that's it."

The motherly goddess looked a little miffed as Percy finally turned around to face her, "so, house rules?"

"Don't get blood on the carpet, fighting between ten pm and seven am must be taken to the park where you won't wake us or the neighbors, and breakfast is served at seven on weekdays, eight on weekends, you miss it, you make it yourself, the same goes for dinner which is six o'clock regardless of the day. Other than that, don't kill each other, and if I ask for help with the chores, you'd better do it."

Percy nodded as the goddess glanced back at the small duffel bag containing the extent of the girl's belongings, "in that regard, dinner is in half an hour."

Again, Percy gave a curt nod and a small, "thanks," before closing her door and dumping her bag onto her bed.

As a child with limited space to herself and a small budget, Percy had learned quickly how to pack a bag with as much as she could, and how to keep things at a minimum, so when fourteen shirts, six pairs of jeans, four pairs of denim shorts, two pairs of athletic shorts, and two weeks worth of bras, socks, and underwear (ranging from sports bras and boxers to lacy lingerie) fell from her bag, the teen saw nothing impressive.

"This shouldn't take too long," she muttered, and of course, she was right. The pants soon occupied one drawer of the dresser, the shorts another, the underwear and socks a third, and with the abundance of empty hangars found in the closet, the shirts were soon hanging up as well.

Just as she tossed her sneakers on the closet floor beside the empty duffel bag, Jay knocked on the door, pushing it open slightly.

"Uh, hey, Percy, dinner's ready," he called kindly.

"Thanks," she muttered quietly as she followed Jay to the kitchen. Everyone except Neil was sitting at the table, and there were only two empty chairs, so Percy picked the one separated from the group and sat down.

Dinner went alright, a basket of hamburger buns, a dish of sloppy-joe, a dish of fries, and pitchers of soda and water were all passed around for an hour (for which Neil was absent) and when it was over Athena assigned Jay and Archie to clean up.

Percy wasn't really sure of what to do, so she stood up to head to her room, only for Odie to invite her to join the rest of the group for a card game in the living room.

"Uh, sure," the girl agreed with a tired smile. Not long into the game, Jay and Archie had joined in, and the gray-eyed newbie was grinning from ear to ear while kicking butt.

"What's this called again?" Herry asked as he studied the cards in front of him.

"It's called Cards Against Humanity," Percy replied, "played it at tons of parties, basically consider it an outlet for every racist, sexist, insulting thought you've ever had."

"Yeah, well, you're disturbingly good at this game," Neil noted as he appeared in the living room, "Did I miss dinner?"

"There's leftovers in the fridge," Jay said before selecting a card to win his judging round. Theresa grinned and swiped the black card off the coffee table with a triumphant grin before drawing another black card for the next round.

After a few more rounds, Percy's phone went off and she excused herself from the round to answer it.

"Hello?" Percy called as she stepped into the kitchen, sidestepping Neil who was ready to join the game.

"Percy, I need a favor," cooed a sickly sweet voice from the other end of the line.

"Nona, I'm not even in the same country as you, what can I possibly do?"

"Its' just… you're at boarding school, so I was hoping you wouldn't mind me selling your furniture so I could turn your room into a closet, I'm running out of room for my things."

Percy bit back an angry protest and sighed, "and what about when I come home to visit?"

"Oh, you're doing that?" She sounded genuinely surprised.

"Just… whatever Nona, it's your apartment," Percy ended the call and in a fit of anger whipped the communication device at the wall, effectively smashing it beyond repair.

"What was that?" Jay called into the room.

"Nothing important," Percy replied as she walked over to pick up the pieces. Without regret, she tossed them into the trashcan and pushed past Jay, "I'll be in my room if anyone needs me."

Jay contemplated following Percy and trying to get some information out of her, but instead, he peered into the mostly empty trash bag to see pieces of smashed electronics and a gum wrapper.

"Hey Odie!" The blonde leader called the tech genius into the room and showed him the pieces, "think we could replace it? You know, as a welcome gift for her. She might warm up to us a little better."

Odie agreed and the two boys returned to the game.

"Hey," Atlanta called, "what happened to Percy?"

"She went to her room, guess that phone call put her in a bad mood," Jay answered as he glanced at the stairs.

Theresa followed his gaze then frowned as she tried to figure out what kind of a call could leave the newest member of their group in such down spirits.

"Maybe one of us should go talk to her," Archie pointed out.

Atlanta agreed, then volunteered herself to go upstairs.

Everyone in the room wished her luck and Jay accompanied the spiky-haired hunter as she ascended the stairs.

At the last door on the left, Percy's room, they were met with a door open by a slight crack and the sound of shallow breathing.

"Percy? Is everything okay?" Jay called as he pushed on the door gently.

"Anything we can help with?"

Percy was at the door in an instant, shaking her head, "no, I'm alright, just… tired. I'll see you in the morning, alright?"

Jay nodded and when Percy met his gaze, she struggled to not cry.

Unlike his mentor, Jay's gaze held only compassion and a brotherly kind of concern Percy hadn't seen since her biological brother, Malcolm died the year before.

"Sleep well, and if you need to talk, my door is always open," Jay assured her.

After a rough and defensive goodnight from Percy, Atlanta decided to head to bed as well, shaken up by the new addition; Jay returned to the game alone.

"Uh, everything okay?" Theresa asked as Jay slumped into the couch beside her.

"Who knows," he groaned as Neil was awarded with his sixth card since joining the game.

The game didn't last too long after that and when everyone called it a night, Percy's bedroom light still glowed beneath her door, leaving the six still awake heroes to wonder what their newest sister had in store for them.


	2. Training is Hell

The next morning, Percy was the first one awake, despite having been the last to sleep. By five am she'd made a pot of coffee and was taking slow sips of the black, caffeinated drink in her hands.

"Hey, you're up early," Jay greeted as he slipped into the kitchen and poured coffee for himself, adding a few spoonfuls of sugar to the drink.

"Trust me, this is rare," Percy assured him, "I guess I'm just a little restless right now. How'd you sleep?"

"Better than you I'd guess. I promise, if it's Herry's snoring that's getting to you, you get used to it," the sandy-haired boy tried to joke.

Percy chuckled lightly and took another sip of her coffee before shaking her head.

"It's not that, I uh… I just got some... bad news last night, that's all."

Jay studied his company carefully, could he get her to open up?

"You know, if you're going to be part of the team, we need to trust each other, I'm sure whatever it is, we could help you with it."

"I'm not part of your team," Percy snapped, then she quieted, "or, sorry, I mean... Hera has made it very clear that I have a different purpose."

Jay could almost hear pain in Percy's voice that time, and was about to inquire further, but Theresa was soon in the kitchen, draped over Jay's shoulders and smiling nervously.

"Looks like we're not the only morning people anymore," she chimed playfully. glancing nervously at Percy.

Percy smirked, "oh, trust me, you two _lovebirds_ can have your mornings, I am never up this early, consider this a fluke," she then stood and took her coffee upstairs, "see you guys in another few hours."  
As soon as she was gone, Theresa frowned a little, "I missed something didn't I?"

"She got some bad news last night, and it seems like Hera hates her, so I don't think she's doing to well."

Theresa frowned, "oh? Well hey, you think maybe Athena would let us take her shopping, it's bound to at least distract her from the bad stuff and we don't have school or training today."  
Jay shrugged, "I thought you didn't like her?"

"Eh, I'm trying, if only for your sake," Theresa replied as she planted a gentle kiss on Jay's lips before stealing a sip of his coffee.

"Ugh, that could use some cream, honestly, Jay."

The boy just chuckled and watched as Theresa poured her coffee and loaded it up with cream and sugar.

Percy hadn't gone back to sleep, instead she selected an outfit for the day and changed into it before running her hands through her hair and tying the colored locks into a low ponytail.

At seven, all eight teenagers were eating breakfast, except for Percy who was accustomed to not eating many meals at all.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat anything?" Herry asked as said teen plopped in front of an empty place-mat.

"Hadn't planned on it," she replied, passing the plate Athena set in front of her towards Herry.

The Herculean descendant just shrugged and stole a sausage from the plate before getting slapped by Archie who slid the plate back in front of Percy.

"If you're vegan, you don't have to eat the meat, but you should eat," the purple haired boy pointed out.

Percy glanced up at him and they shared a knowing glance, silently agreeing that a person should eat when presented with the opportunity because he/she didn't know when it would come again.

Hesitantly, Percy ate a slice of toast and half of her eggs before forcing herself to stop so she wouldn't get nauseous as she usually did if she ate breakfast.

Percy soon stood up, she had training with Ares at nine.

"Where are you going?" Herry asked as the girl headed for the door.

"I have training at nine. Hera's orders," Percy replied flatly.

Theresa sighed, so much for shopping, "what time do you get done?"

"When Hera kicks me out," Percy replied, "see you guys for dinner, maybe."

Athena grabbed Percy's wrist and shook her head, "nope, you sit down, you finish your breakfast, and I'll let Hera know that you're taking the day off, if the seven get a break, so do you."

Percy struggled to repress the urge to hit the goddess and instead, gently pulled her arm away, "if you want Hera to roast me alive, sure go ahead, but she's been keen on reminding me that I'm not one of the seven, I have my own agenda to keep up with, and the queen seems to see that's it's quite full."

With that unhappy tone, Athena just let Percy go and turned to the rest of the teens who were all watching, trying to figure out what on earth Percy could mean.

"She's kidding right, Hera's not that mean, especially not to the heroes."

Athena sighed, "it's difficult with Percy. Frankly, I'm surprised she doesn't hate Herry so much, although living the past 3000 years with Hercules seems to have altered that. You see, Percy is descended from Perseus, son of Zeus, and well, Zeus still has to hear her complain about his unfaithfulness all the time, so Percy being around doesn't make the queen any happier."

"That's not really fair to Percy though, she can't help it if Zeus slept around."

"True as it may be, it doesn't make Hera like the child any more or less. Perhaps it's in her prophecy, perhaps not."

Herry shook his head and walked out the door after Percy, determined that if one of them had to train, then all of them should.

"Why are you following me?" Percy asked as Herry caught up to her.

"Because, it's not fair that we get a day off, so if you're going to train, then so am I."

Percy shrugged the gesture off and jammed her hands into her pockets, bracing herself against the autumn wind.

"Man, should have grabbed our jackets, right?" Herry joked.

"Yeah," Percy muttered quietly, not admitting that she didn't own one.

Ares was surprised to see both Percy and Herry but decided to go with it, then put Percy and Herry against each other. Herry wielded a large wooden sword, Percy held two wooden sickles, one in either hand, and waited for Herry to strike first.

Playing on the defensive side, Percy was making progress, wearing Herry down before making a few offensive attacks, disarming him, and leveling the sickle at his throat with a small grin.

"I win," she chimed sweetly before offering Herry her hand.

Herry wasn't sure what to expect, but he was not expecting to feel scars and callouses on the petite girl's hand. His own rough hand was almost a match, except that it was twice the size of Percy's paper-white skin.

"Guess you got me," Herry admitted as Ares nodded approvingly, "not bad, Percy, but don't do so easy on him next time, Herry needs to train as well."

"Whoa, she was going easy on me?"

Percy sighed, "want to go again?"

The teenage boy nodded and picked up his sword, "first move is yours."

"Trust me, you should go first."

Herry did, and as soon as he lunged, he knew it was a mistake. Before his sword could touch Percy's side, she had him disarmed and pinned flat against the floor with a sickle at his neck.

"Whoa, you're amazing."

"It's not enough," Percy replied as she let Herry go, and helped him up again, "it's never good enough for Hera."

Herry raised a brow, and Ares just shook his head, "Percy, you're doing fine, you've only started a week ago, and I'm quite sure you could beat Jay in a sword fight. Now, Herry, hit the weights, Percy, let's practice with those powers some more?"  
Percy didn't want to, she hated her powers, mostly because she knew they only connected her further to Zeus, the only god who seemed to hate her more than Hera did.

"Powers?"  
Percy nodded and closed her eyes, then focused until her hands and arms crackled and arced with electricity. As soon as she had enough, she threw it at the targets on the far end of the room, successfully causing them to burst into flames.

"Zeus, god of the skies, lord of thunder, wielder of lightning, he uh, passed some of that on to me," Percy said with clear distaste, "it makes my mouth taste like iron."

"Right," Herry muttered, "it's still super cool."  
Percy just shook her head and repeated her action, this time, focusing the bolts into a single beam that she swept across a row of targets, nearly setting off the fire alarm.

Ares nodded and Percy continued doing the same thing before pulling two sickles from her pockets and electrifying them, using the sickles to attack practice robots until Ares was left with only burning piles of metal.

Herry met the five hours mark that Ares usually gave, and turned to see Percy on the verge of collapse.

"Hey, five hours of that can't be good, isn't it time to stop?"  
Percy shook her head and stood up straighter, "no."

As the girl continued in her work, Ares glanced at the door, as if waiting for someone to come in.

Percy glared at the door and watched as Herry sat down and picked up a water.

With more jealousy and rage than she usually had, Percy kept going, and going, and going.

Except Herry had continued as well, following Percy's regimen and continuing to train for an additional four hours until Hera came in and shooed the two of them off before yelling at Ares.

"Herry wasn't supposed to train today! He needs a break once in a while."

"So does Percy," Herry shouted as he followed the girl out the door, "what the hell are you doing to her?"

Hera sent Herry a warning glance and the teen just shut the door and headed into the boys showers as Percy headed into the girls.

Except Percy had forgotten her bag, so she had nothing to change into.

"I wonder..." Percy soaked her clothing, then laid it down on the bench, and focused. Pretty soon, she'd created a cloud above the clothing, and tossed her fingers to the side, dropping the water and soap vapor into the shower drain, leaving her with clean clothes.

"Cool," Percy laughed before taking her shower and joining Herry in Persephone's solarium. He looked exhausted, and Persephone was perplexed as to why he'd been training for so long.

"Well, it's not my fault, well, it kind of is, I figured, you know, Percy's one of us, so if she has to train, then so should I. What is Hera trying to do to her?"  
"Who cares," Percy cut in, sitting on a chair and stretching her sore arms. Nine hours of non-stop workouts were almost killing her.

"Well, I care, I mean, we're friends now right? You're one of us, one of the heroes."

"No, Herry, she is not. She is a guardian, and she is not one of you. She never will be," Hera cut in, glaring at the female teenager in the room.

Percy rolled her eyes, but remained silent. Somehow, she would rather be with Nona, than with Hera. At least Nona just pretended she didn't exist.

"That's so mean," Herry protested, but Persephone didn't say anything either, and Hera shut Herry up with a harsh glare.

"I hear, you were complaining to Ares about your training? Pity, I thought you intended to succeed with your quest."

"I wasn't complaining, _your highness,_ I was merely pointing out that nine hours straight can do more damage than good."

"I'll be the judge of that. You are to report to Ares tomorrow morning at six a.m."

"Hera, it's the weekend, don't you think she deserves a break?" Herry demanded.

"Herry, shut up, it's fine, I'll be here," Percy sent him the coldest glare he'd ever received and stood up, "I take it I'm done for the day."

"For the day," Hera echoed in confirmation.

Percy bowed slightly before leaving and when Herry followed her, she punched him in the arm.

"Thanks, now I get double duty tomorrow, I'll fight my own battles from now on thanks," she hissed as the door shut behind them.

"What did I do?"

"Your little stunt before hitting the showers, complaining to Hera, that's what, because of you, I get to train for probably twelve or thirteen hours tomorrow."

"That's bull," Herry pointed out.

"She hates me, dude, and I don't fancy becoming a flame roasted teenage delicacy."

"Eww."

Percy rolled her eyes and pushed the door to the janitor's closet open before stepping out and into the school. It was six o'clock, so if the two hurried, she guessed they might make the second half of dinner.

"How can you walk so fast after that workout?" Herry whined as Percy picked up the pace.

"The promise of food at home if we make it there in time."

Herry grinned, "yeah, I'm in, race you there?"  
Percy grinned and took off running with Herry hot on her heels.

Soon enough, the two were seated at the dinner table.

"Where were you two all day?" Athena asked.

"Training," Herry replied as he stuffed his face, "Percy's got a really nasty routine, nine hours!"  
Everyone turned to study the girl who couldn't seem to eat fast enough.

"What?" She asked around a mouthful of potatoes.

"Nothing," Athena replied, "that just seems, well, insane, even Achilles didn't train that hard, and he had a curse to keep up with."

"Well, so do I," Percy muttered before continuing to eat.

After that comment, everyone was quiet.

"Atlanta and I are going shopping tomorrow, want to join us Percy?" Theresa finally offered.

"Can't, training," Percy replied.

Theresa frowned, "really?"

"Yeah, Hera wants me there at six in the morning, and I guess I uh... have lost time to make up for."  
"That's not healthy though," Archie pointed out.

"Does that ever matter to Hera?"

"All the time actually, she once banned me from training for an entire week after I passed out," Jay pointed out.

"Yeah," Athena replied, "she's always taking interest in the health of the heroes."

"Just ask her, I'm not a hero, I'm a guardian, things are different."  
Athena's jaw dropped and her fork clattered to the floor.

"Uh, Athena? Something wrong?"  
"No," the goddess replied, picking up her silverware and dumping her food (ambrosia for her) into the trash, "but I need to be at the school right now, Atlanta, Percy, dish duty please?"  
Percy nodded tiredly and when everyone was finished, she and Atlanta began clearing plates and packing away leftovers.

"Don't you want to sleep? I could just hit Archie up to help me," the red-head offered to Percy.

"No, it's alright, Athena asked me to do this, so I'll do it."

Atlanta just nodded and told Percy that if she dried dishes, Atlanta would wash them.

Slowly, the kitchen was cleaned, and rather than join in on movie night, both Herry and Percy went to bed.

"I can't believe the training Hera has Percy on, it could kill her!" Theresa complained as soon as the two bedroom doors on the floor above were short, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I've been getting strange vibes off of her, but it's still... cruel."

Jay shook his head, "I have no idea, but I don't think Hera's trying to be mean, Percy mentioned that she was the Guardian, meaning she must have a prophecy of her own, a dangerous one that she has to face by herself. As a team, we're strong together, but on her own, Percy has to really be able to kick ass, and that's gotta call for some serious training standards, right?"

The others agreed with their leader and settled down to watch _Olympus Has Fallen,_ in kind of a practical joke on the gods.

When the movie finished, the teens all went to bed, but Jay stopped by Percy's door. The light was out, but he could have sworn he heard crying.

"Percy? You still awake?" Jay tapped gently on the door and turned the handle, pushing it open gently.

What he saw was Percy laying with ice packs on her arms, legs, and forehead, she had her eyes closed, but true to what he'd heard, tears poured down the sides of her face.

"Hey, what's wrong, gods, you look like hell," Jay moved to the side of the bed and pushed some sweaty bangs off the girl's forehead. Theresa was right behind him, as was Odie.

"I'm fine, just... really, really sore," Percy muttered, "maybe I'll see you guys tomorrow before I leave."

"No, absolutely not, forget that, if you're supposed to be a guardian of anything, then you need to rest for tomorrow, you can't possibly train like this. I'll talk to Hera," Theresa said. Percy sat up, throwing the ice packs forward.

"NO! YOU CAN'T! She'll only make it worse," Percy finished a little quieter before cringing and falling backwards against her pillows.

"I don't care, hero, guardian, whatever, I'm the leader here, I say you're not going tomorrow," Jay said firmly.

Percy couldn't believe how much Jay reminded her of her brother, which only made her hurt even worse.

"I've never really been a stickler to taking orders, well, other than Hera's," Percy warned as she slapped an ice pack against the back of her neck and curled up on her side, "I'll be fine guys, I promise."

None of the heroes believed her, and Odie volunteered to get up early to make sure she didn't leave, but the next morning, Percy left anyway, ignoring the resident genius's constant protests.

The routine continued for a month, and the team felt like they had more of a ghost and less of a new member in the Brownstone. Percy was hardly there, and when she was, she barely spoke, she barely hung out, and it put Theresa more and more on edge each day.

It only stopped come October, on the same day that Ares himself walked through the door of the Brownstone with an unconscious Percy in hand.

"What happened to her?" Odie asked instantly as Ares put the girl on the couch.

"I'm afraid Hera ordered us to fight, she threatened to revoke my immortality if I held back, I tried to end it quickly, but she lasted an easy hour and a half before I knocked her out. She is not to leave this house for the next week, whether Hera calls her or not, do all of you understand this?"

The seven heroes agreed and watched as Percy groaned and started to sit up.

"Stay down child, you must rest, this absurd training is killing you."

"I think that's Hera's goal," Percy mumbled as she sat up anyway.

"Excuse me?"

"I caught a glimpse of my prophecy the other day, and that's probably why Hera made me fight Ares today," Percy muttered as she clutched at her side and scrunched her face up in pain.

"What?" Jay looked perplexed, "what do you mean?"

"She keeps them written on a scroll in the library, in the restricted section, let me guess, she hasn't told you what yours actually says either?"  
Jay shook his head, "alright, whatever, forget that, Percy, you rest, Ares says that you're not allowed to leave the Brownstone for a week. Got it?"

"Not really," Percy replied, "if Hera says..."

"Ares says you have a pass to ignore her for a week," Odie assured the girl.

Percy shook her head, "it doesn't matter, alright? I have way too many things to learn."

Theresa sighed, "uh huh, whatever, just..."

The ginger trailed off as her eyes went blank and Herry put his hands on her shoulders to keep her steady.

When she came out of the vision, Theresa explained that she'd seen monsters, dozens of them, gathering on nearby Mount Olympia, so Jay rallied the team and asked Athena to keep an eye on Percy.

Percy didn't seem to like the sound of that, but Athena snapped her fingers and the gray-eyed girl slumped sideways, asleep, on the couch.

Gently, Herry put her leg up on the couch as well and tossed a blanket over her before running to his truck where everyone piled in and took off, speeding towards the mountain as fast as they could.

Athena knew the seven would take care of the monster problem, but she began to worry more when Percy began muttering in her sleep, crying out for someone named Malcolm over and over again as she shivered and clutched the blanket in fear.

Unfortunately, the goddess of wisdom and war couldn't do anything about the nightmares, she could only hope that Percy felt rested when she woke up from what Athena predicted would be at least twenty hours of sleep.


	3. The Guardian's Purpose

**Thank you so much to** Katmar1994 **and** nollsthology **for reviewing my story! I'm so glad you like it.**

 **So as a rule, I let people get a taste of my stories before making any author's notes or whatever, so, what do the rest of you guys think? This won't have many chapters, I'm thinking seven tops, since they're just a little longer than I usually write, but let me know if you guys have any requests or anything, I'm happy to start a new story, or if you have any ideas, I might be able to incorporate them into this story! Private Message me or leave it in a review, without further ado, chapter three!**

Athena had been wrong on both counts.

The titans were not winning.

Percy did not stay asleep.

Jay ducked beneath a sword and rolled out of the way of an axe. The current standings of the battle were less than favorable for the leader of the seven heroes, and said leader was almost ready to give up.

Almost.

Theresa and Atlanta were still fighting, despite the obvious limp in Atlanta's step, they were too busy guarding Odie and Archie, who were both officially down for the count. Neil was just generally missing, Jay feared the worst, and Herry was fighting off harpies while trying to find the blonde beauty king.

"Jay! Behind you!"

Jay spun, but heard Theresa's warning much too late. A cyclops swung its club through the air, and Jay couldn't help but to hear the whistle it made before connecting to his side with a sickening crack.

Something was definitely broken, but Jay forced himself to roll over where he lay and stand to continue fighting. Cronus was watching in delight, laughing maniacally and making Jay's head spin as he battled more monsters than he could count.

As he slashed and hacked away, ignoring the constant pain in his side and his head, Jay tried to order the others to retreat, but there was no chance of that, and everyone knew it.

A scream came from Theresa and Atlanta's direction, Atlanta was down, and Theresa was protecting her now too, Jay ran to help, but a club hit him from behind. Before he had the chance to get out of the way, a dracaena lady brought one of her scaly legs down on his back and hissed in glee as she swung her sword, Jay prepared himself for a second meeting with Thanatos.

Percy woke up screaming.

It wasn't really a panicked scream like in scary movies, more of a mournful wail with the distinct syllable of her brothers name tangled in between.

Needless to say, she scared the shit out of Athena.

"Percy! What on earth...?" Athena trailed off as she watched Percy look around. The teen took several deep breaths and shoved her hair out of her face with a shaky hand.

"Where is everybody?"  
"Not here, they're on a mission."

"They need my help," Percy muttered.

"No, they're fine, I'm quite sure of it."

"They aren't!" Hermes voice was panicked and Percy jumped as it called through her PMR. She rarely used the device, but it was a gift from Jay and Odie the second day she'd arrived, so Percy kept it with her just in case.

"Why am I right?" the mint-haired teen asked pointedly as she refocused on reality.

"They're in trouble, Neil's PMR is sending a distress signal from the mountain top. Mount Olympia, you need to get there fast! There's no time, your ride is waiting outside! Courtesy of Persephone and Hades."

Percy didn't ask any further questions, instead, she ran to her room, grabbed her sickle off her dresser, and jumped out the window to find a pitt bull standing dutifully beside the stairs.

"He's kidding right? You're my ride?" Percy complained as she noticed the lack of vehicles around.

Suddenly, the pitt bull grew to the size of a small car with fangs the size of bicycles and a hide that appeared to be made of molten lava; it knelt for Percy to board.

The teen couldn't help but stare for half a second, then she jumped on and told the dog to take her to the top of Mount Olympia.

The dog, which Percy had yet to name, pounced forward into a shadow and in a rush of cold air, landed on the ground beside a very confused looking dracaena warrior.

The warrior didn't have time to react as Percy slashed her sickle through it and told Jay to get everyone on board the dog.

"Are you insane?" Jay asked with disbelief, studying the dog while contemplating whether or not he should just listen to Percy and get on.

"Just do it! I'll get the monsters, you get the others! Find Neil, his PMR is the one going off!"

Jay silently cheered as he realized why Neil had disappeared, at least he hadn't reverted back to his cowardly ways from the first few months of being a team.

As the others were rescued by their leader on a hell hound, they pushed disbelief and questions to the back of their mind until all six of them were hunting for Neil.

Herry was distracted though, he was watching Percy. Somehow the girl who'd been to injured to even walk herself to her room six hours ago was now up and fighting, and she was breathtaking to watch.

Percy fought as though she couldn't feel pain, and in the exact moment she was in, she couldn't feel it, instead, she felt as though she were lighter than air, and she used that feeling to move faster than any human could. It wasn't as fast as Atlanta's speed could propel her, but it was close, and that was truly astonishing, because she combined the speed with combat techniques, and monsters were dying all over the place.

In her own right, it made Percy a monster, a different kind of monster in the sense that she could bring death to just about anyone and anything she wanted regardless of her own physical welfare, and while it impressed the Strongman of the descendants, it terrified him as well.

Jay suddenly shouted, and everyone turned to see Neil making his way towards them, trying to hide from monsters along the way.

Then he was seen.

"Neil! RUN!" Jay screamed as he urged the dog forward, hoping to reach Neil before the monsters did, but Percy beat him to the punch by hacking and slashing her way through the horde of monsters before making it to Neil to protect him.

 _This must be what it means to be a guardian_ , Percy thought to herself as she stood in front of Neil, acting as his defensive line until Jay could get him.

Jay somehow understood then what Hera meant about Percy never being one of the heroes, she was something more than that, something... powerful.

Theresa and Atlanta reached out and pulled Neil up onto the dog as they approached, Herry and Jay did the same for the unsuspecting guardian as she was mid slash with a minotaur.

"Hey, what the... oh, hi," Percy stopped mid sentence to greet the tired and injured heroes as she stowed her sickle and glared back at the army of monsters and angry Cronus.

"Take us home," Percy ordered her new dog as everyone started to relax and pass out.

The dog obeyed and dove through the shadows landing in Persephone's solarium in an instant. Here, Hermes, Asclepius, and Apollo were all waiting to care for the injured teenagers, Percy included.

The room was heavy and silent with the eight teens all quietly sleeping or just generally resting, and Percy was starting to lose it so she sat up and started to stand, only for the pitt bull, who was back in it's average pitt bull size, to nudge her to sit back down.

"Really now? What if I want to stretch?" Percy voiced to the dog, her whisper sounding eerily loud in the quiet room.

The dog whined, louder than Percy's whisper, and shoved it's head into her hand before pushing her side and sitting down, as if insisted she stay where she was.

"So that's how you want to play it huh? Do you have a name then?" the teenager asked as she scratched the dog's ears.

The dog cocked its head to the side and Percy sighed, "you know what, I think I'll call you Sisyphus, it's fitting yes? Sisyphus was Perseus's new home, and you brought me home, so you should have the same name."

Jay chuckled to himself a little sadly as he listened to the guardian begin prattling on about Perseus and his home, telling the dog the story of how he got there, then surprising Jay by telling the dog another story.

"You know, Sisyphus, in a way, you're my home now, because if you're going to follow me around like this, it must mean you want to stay with me, and I don't have a home anywhere else, Nona made sure of that as soon as I left, but... I get the feeling you already know something about that don't you? Hades just leaving you by the step waiting for some stranger, me, to walk out and start giving you orders. Why it's as bad as Nona throwing me to Hera, but I won't treat you so badly, I swear it, because I know what that feels like, and you certainly don't deserve that, do you?"

Sisyphus started wagging his tail, and it made a low, thumping sound against a large, empty vase as he did.

Percy laughed, and Jay couldn't believe what he was hearing. In the month since he'd met Percy, he'd never heard her so casual, so unguarded, so happy, and he certainly had never heard her laugh that way.

Before he knew it, Jay heard something else, he could have sworn Percy was choking on her own words.

"Maybe I'll take you to meet mom and Malcolm, they'd love you, you know, and... and they won't do much talking, the dead never do, but I promise they're listening, I know they are, because they're the only ones who really listen to me anymore... I can't believe it's been a whole year, Sisyphus... Mom wouldn't have let me come, and I bet you I'd have been really upset about it, but knowing what I know, I'd trade all of it to have her yell at me about my grades or for arguing with Malcolm again. I don't know what you've been through, but Sisyphus, you're my family now, alright?"

Jay couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't imagine that any of the others had a life so rough, then again, when was the last time they'd talked about their lives from before Cronus and the gods interrupted them.

"You never said anything," Jay muttered quietly as he opened his eyes and saw Percy walking across the room with Sisyphus in tow.

Percy froze like a deer caught in the headlights, "you're awake! Sorry about that... I..."

Jay shook his head, "nah, it's alright, you know, if you'd said something, we'd have helped you through it, thats what we do as a family."

Percy shook her head, her pale skin turning a reddish hue, "no, it's fine, I've been on my own for a year, I'll be on my own for another good few, that's how it has to be, that's how Hera wants it."

Jay rolled his eyes and sat up, "don't be stupid. Percy, you just saved our lives, we'd be fools not to think of you as anything but family, and I know it's a rough transition for you to grasp, but we really do care about you."

Percy moved across the room, weaving between the other teens, all of whom were _actually_ asleep and stood in front of Jay.

"Look my in the eye, convince me you believe that, Jay, because I've been lied to more than once by now."

Jay met the girl's eyes and repeated every word, and Percy felt compelled to look away, because for once, she did believe every word someone was saying to her.

"Hey sit down, okay? Rest, you'll need it," Jay patted the bed next to him and Percy sat down, Sisyphus sat by her feet.

"i don't hate you," Percy muttered quietly, "in.. in case that's what you thought. I just... see a lot of Malcolm in you, my brother I mean."

Jay smiled a little as he studied the teen next to him, the way she acted now, self conscious and nervous, but trusting, that reminded him of someone Jay once knew.

"That must be hard, sorry... I..."

"No," Percy squealed, throwing her hands in the air and looking at Jay in horror, "no! Never apologize for being like him! I just meant... I... it..." she took a deep breath and wrung her hands together in her lap.

"It can be hard sometimes, especially that first day when you and Atlanta came to check on me after Nona's phone call, but most times, it's nice to at least pretend someone cares, and well, I guess it wasn't pretend, and well... it makes you a really good person, Jay, so don't apologize for that, okay?"  
Jay smiled, Percy definitely reminded him of someone he knew.

"You remind me of a friend I once had, you know that?"

Percy glanced up at Jay, her hands were still for a millisecond before she began playing with her bracelets, "oh?"  
Jay nodded, "yeah, you do, and it's a good thing, I uh, knew him back in middle school, see, I'm kind of a nerd, and well, sailing kept me in shape, but it didn't make me the most popular guy ever."

Jay paused for a moment to think, "well, maybe I was popular-ish, but people either really liked me, or really hated me because people liked me, and well, this kid, he was a grade below me, and one of the guys I hung out with bullied the hell out of him, and one day, I'd had enough of it, and I knew the kid had too. I stepped in, and I made friends with him, he was cool, and he acted really tough sometimes, but the tough outer shell he portrayed hid a totally normal teenager who had tons of funny quips to share in class and a game station he liked to play when he was bored, and well, we became pretty good friends. His parents moved him towards the end of middle school, since he was still having trouble with bullies, but I remember that he did well at the new school, he just needed that extra chance, you know."  
Percy looked surprised, to say the least, she expected some sob story to counteract her own, instead, she got a confidence boost that made her see even more of Malcolm in Jay.

"Oh, you idiot, gods, you are so much like Malcolm it's scary!" Percy teased, giving jay a light shove. Jay smirked, knowing Percy hadn't shoved hard enough to jostle any of his cracked ribs.

"You know, some of us are trying to sleep," Neil hissed angrily as he picked his head up and glared at Percy and Jay.

Jay rolled his eyes, but Percy stood up, "no, he's right, you need to rest, and I have a few things to take care of, I'll see you guys in a little while, okay?"

"Hey, you need to rest too, don't forget that," Jay warned, "if you're not back in a few hours, I'm sending Hermes to find you."

Percy assured Jay she'd be back and slipped out of the room.

As soon as Percy was out of earshot, Hera confronted her.

"You're pathetic you know that?" She hissed.

"Shut up," Percy muttered as Sisyphus bared his teeth at the goddess.

"Restrain your mutt and follow me, if it's your prophecy you wish to know, then it will be on my terms."

Percy was too intrigued to say anything in reply, and she gave Sisyphus a gentle nudge before following the goddess to her library.

The teen and her dog had been instructed to wait as Hera disappeared into her private, restricted section.

At the late hour of midnight, the library was mostly dim, save for the light above the table Percy sat at, and the entire room was less inviting than usual.

What felt like ages, but according to her watch was only ten minutes, later, Percy was greeted with two scrolls.

"This, is the original two prophecies pertaining to your mission and to the others, this is your only chance to look at them, learn them well, as I am putting them back in half an hour," Hera ordered, "you are not to inform Jay or the others of their prophecy, do you understand?"

Percy nodded, "yes ma'am."

Hera nodded, "good."

Percy carefully unrolled the first scroll. It was the heroes' prophecy, and it was less than heart warming.

The Prophecy of the Seven Heroes

When the Lord escapes his eternal hold,

Seven great heroes shall the world behold.

A guardian of wit shall surface to prevail,

The shield of honor scorned by a warriors sail.

Fought to the final breath of the dove,

Shall bring the remaining six above.

And only when the great evil is put to finally to rest,

Shall thusly end the heroes' greatest test.

Percy couldn't help but notice the fifth line, the final breath of the dove... Aphrodite's symbol was a dove, and Neil was learning from her, so... Neil wasn't going to make it?

The teen knew that Jay would try so hard to prevent Neil's death if he knew, he'd... he'd get so upset over it, blaming himself for being unable to fight the prophecy. Percy didn't try to interpret the prophecy further, instead, she moved on to read her own on the next scroll.

The Prophecy of the Guardian

A guardian of spirit from a line that is cursed,

Shall be the key to another prophecy's verse.

When the sands of time wear dangerously thin,

The guardian shall save heroes capture by sin.

Haste does not take to the matters of time,

And the heroes find help in the course of rhyme.

The outcome of battle sits in capable hand,

As the guardian makes a final stand.

As if Percy's night couldn't get worse.

First Neil, then her.

"Well, Sisyphus, guess that's it then," Percy muttered quietly to herself.

Somehow, death didn't seem so scary as Percy read and re-read her prophecy, committing it to memory as she ignored the itching in the back of her mind that dying was not a good idea.

Of course it wasn't a good idea, but when did she ever do any good?

Percy instead let her mind wander, trying to find other outcomes for Neil's fate, wondering if the dove was a literal thing, and it was just a bird.

"Because random little birds totally fit into prophecies," Percy chided out loud as Hera returned to collect the scrolls.

"Well, do you understand now?"  
Percy sighed, "your reasoning? Yes, but I still don't think it's right... then again, I don't want them to rip themselves up over those things, Hera... I won't say anything."

Hera nodded, and Percy could have sworn she'd almost smiled, albeit a sad one, "now go, rest, your training resumes as theirs do, you understand your task? Why I have prepared you as such?"  
Percy couldn't help but think of a harsh answer, instead she merely nodded.

Percy's job was to protect the heroes, no matter the cost.

 **So, this is the shortest chapter so far, but I've gotten two reviews, so I wanted to get it out faster. That said, if you noticed any errors, I'm happy to fix them as I work on the next chapter. That said, I have a concert, and a play coming up, so I can't promise anything until May 23, 2016, because that's when I finally start having some time to breathe again.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this bit, it's a touch more dramatic than the rest, please review!**

 **-Queen Bee**


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